Editorial 



CO 



ALLEY'S comet visited us on schedule time and lias 

 departed on his seventy-live years' journey to outer 



space far beyond tl 'bil of Neptune, but, unlike the 



sheep of little Bo-Peep, he has left his tail behind him. 



The astronomer of two or three generations hence, who 

 will watch for his advent, will read, with wonder, the story 

 of the l<»st tail, and perhaps the telescopes of that day may 

 disclose a new. minute nucleus of a planet traversing this, 

 the greatest orbil of our system in a vain pursuit to be re- 

 united with its parent. 



What has become of this enormous aggregation of millions 

 of miles of attenuated gases? Are they of a meagerness so 

 sapless, that they will be'dissipated in space? Will they follow, 

 in their present condition, through eternity, the path of the 

 comet, or will they in time. — an immeasurable time. — by the 

 attraction of gravitation, be consolidated into another Eros, 

 and be captured by one of our Larger bodies and chained to 

 it ;is a new satellite, as perhaps was the fate of the three 

 newly discovered ouler moons of Jupiter? 



it is an interesting subject for thought, not only by the 

 astronomer, but by all who study the phenomena of our 

 System. 



A few years ago, the Academy was presented with an 

 excellent telescope. It is ;i refractor, ei 1 1 lat orially moulded, 

 with an objective of live and one-half inches, and capable of 

 a magnifying power id' 100 diameters. 



.Mr. keese. who is its custodian, adjoining his residence, 

 has constructed a Lecture room which is supplied with a 

 powerful Lantern and photographic appliances, and the loca- 

 tion, on the hills of Shatto street, affords an unobstructed view 

 of the heavens. .Mr. Keese takes pleasure in throwing open the 

 doors 'o these conveniences for the meetings of the various 

 Sections of the Academy. 



